Forming Plurals

How do you form plurals?

Plurals of nouns are used to indicate when there is more than one person, place, animal, or thing. There are a number of ways we can make a noun plural, either by adding a suffix, changing the spelling the word, or both.

Adding “-s”

The normal method for making nouns plural is to add an “-s” at the end of the noun.

For example:

one boy – two boys

one girl – two girls

one pen – two pens

one pencil – two pencils

one prize – two prizes

one price – two prices

Adding “-es”

In other instances, we use the suffix “-es” instead of “-s.” This occurs if a noun ends in a sibilant sound (/s/, /z/, /ʧ/, or /ʃ/) created by the endings “-ss,” “-z,” “-x,” “-sh,” “-ch,” or “-tch.” We also use this suffix with some nouns ending in a consonant + O.

For example:

one coach – two coaches

one witch – two witches

one dish – two dishes

one box – two boxes

one bus – two buses

one kiss – two kisses

one waltz – two waltzes

one tomato – two tomatoes

Words ending in “-y”

When the noun ends in a “-y” and it is preceded by a consonant, we change “y” to “i” and add “-es.”

For example:

one country – two countries

one city – two cities

one gallery – two galleries

one baby – two babies

one lady – two ladies

one reality – two realities

one fly – two flies

one butterfly – two butterflies

However, when a word ends in a “-y” preceded by a vowel, then we simply add an “-s” as usual:

one toy – two toys

one play – two plays

one key – two keys

one guy – two guys

Irregular plurals

There are some nouns that are irregular—they either use unconventional suffixes, have letters change internally, or else become entirely new words. They do not adhere to predictable spelling rules or conventions, so we have to memorize their unique spellings.

Here are the most common ones:

one man – two men

one woman – two women

one person – two people*

one mouse – two mice

one goose – two geese

one child – two children

one tooth – two teeth

one foot – two feet

one ox – two oxen

(*Persons is also a plural form of person, but in modern English it is usually reserved for more formal, bureaucratic, or legal language, as in, “Any such persons found to be guilty of shoplifting will be prosecuted.”)

Be aware that irregular plural nouns cannot be made plural again; that is, you cannot have childrens, or feets. However, people is an exception—it can be pluralized as peoples in some cases.

Adding “-ves” vs. “-s”

With some nouns that end in “-f,” “-fe,” or “-lf,” we replace the endings with “-ves” to make them plural. Below is a list of some common examples:

one life – two lives

one wife – two wives

one loaf – two loaves

one leaf – two leaves

one knife – two knives

one thief – two thieves

one calf – two calves

one half – two halves

one wolf – one wolves

However, many other words that end in “-f,” “-fe,” or “-lf” are simply made plural by adding an “-s” on the end. Here are some common examples:

one chief – two chiefs

one brief – two briefs

one safe – two safes

one gulf – two gulfs

one belief – two beliefs

one roof – two roofs

And yet some other words can receive either “-ves” or “-s,” such as:

one handkerchief – two handkerchiefs – two handkerchieves

one hoof – two hoofs – two hooves

one scarf – two scarfs – two scarves

Unfortunately, there is no steadfast rule for which words will receive a “-ves” ending, an “-s” ending, or both—they are irregular and have to be memorized.

Words ending in “-ff” or “-ffe”

Words ending in “-ff” or “-ffe,” on the other hand, have straightforward plural forms and are considered regular—we simply add “-s” to the end, as in:

one cliff – two cliffs

one bailiff – two bailiffs

one giraffe – two giraffes

one gaffe – two gaffes

Words with the same plural and singular forms

We also have some nouns that remain the same whether singular or plural.

For example:

one fish – two fish*

one sheep – two sheep

one bison – two bison

one aircraft – two aircraft

(*Note that fish can also be pluralized as fishes. However, it is more common for this “-es” form to be used in reference to more than one kind of fish, as opposed to multiple fish in general.)

Uncountable nouns

Although similar in nature to the above nouns, uncountable nouns refer to things that cannot be divided into individual units, and that therefore cannot be made plural at all.

For example:

rice

butter

milk

advice

news

To quantify them, we need to use a unit of measure, such as one pound of rice, a bottle of milk, a piece of advice, etc. (There are some colloquial exceptions. For instance, it’s not uncommon to ask for “two coffees” when ordering at a café, even though coffee is traditionally considered an uncountable noun.)

Words from Latin or Greek

There are also nouns taken from Latin or Greek that maintain their original forms in the plural. However, as we’ll see, some of these words have begun shifting toward more conventional plural forms, in addition to their original spellings.

For example:

index – indices (indexes is now also acceptable)

appendix – appendices (appendixes is now also acceptable)

fungus – fungi

criterion – criteria

nucleus – nuclei

syllabus – syllabi

focus – foci

cactus – cacti (cactuses is now also acceptable)

thesis – theses

crisis – crises

phenomenon – phenomena

Quiz

1. What is the correct plural form of the noun batch?

a) batchsb) batchesc) batchiesd) batch

2. For words ending in “-f” or “-fe,” in what instances do we replace the endings with “-ves” to make them plural?

a) alwaysb) neverc) Only if the endings are preceded by a voweld) We have to memorize when to do so

3. When a word ends in a consonant + “y,” how is the word made plural?

a) By replacing the “y” with “-ies”b) By replacing the “y” with “-es”c) By adding “-s” to the end of the wordd) No change necessary

4. How can an uncountable noun be made plural?

a) Its singular form is the same as its plural formb) It cannot be made pluralc) By using its original Latin or Greek endingd) We have to memorize how to do so

5. Which of the following sentences is incorrect?

a) “There are a number of missing persons following the disaster.”b) “Many men and women sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.”c) “There are many different childrens trying to find their parents.”d) “The roofs of several houses have collapsed in the last half hour.”

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